<!ENTITY % dynamicdata SYSTEM "dynamic.ent" > %dynamicdata;
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- <!ENTITY cvs-rev "$Revision: 1.264 $">
+ <!ENTITY cvs-rev "$Revision: 1.282 $">
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<p>
If you want to print this reference, you should use the <url
id="developers-reference.pdf" name="pdf version">.
+This page is also available in <url id="index.fr.html" name="French">.
]]>
<toc detail="sect1">
<tt>&keyserver-host;</tt>.
<p>
If you need to add a completely new key or remove an old key, you need
-to get the new key signed by another developer. After this, a mail
-signed by another developer listing your account name, the keyids
-of the old and of the new key and the reason should be send to
-&email-debian-keyring;. If the old key is compromised or invalid, you
+to get the new key signed by another developer.
+If the old key is compromised or invalid, you
also have to add the revocation certificate. If there is no real
-reason for a new key, the Keyring Maintainers will only accept it if
-it's more secure and connected to the old key.
+reason for a new key, the Keyring Maintainers might reject the new key.
+Details can be found at
+<url id="http://keyring.debian.org/replacing_keys.html">.
<p>
The same key extraction routines discussed in <ref id="registering">
apply.
<sect1 id="servers-non-us">The non-US server
<p>
-The non-US server, <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>,
-holds the canonical copy of the non-US part of the Debian archive.
-If you need to upload a package into one of the non-US sections, upload it
-to this server; see <ref id="upload-non-us">.
- <p>
-Problems with the non-US package archive should generally be submitted as
-bugs against the <package>nonus.debian.org</package> pseudo-package (notice
-the lack of hyphen between "non" and "us" in the pseudo-package name
-— that's for backwards compatibility). Remember to check whether or
-not someone else has already reported the problem to the
-<url id="http://&bugs-host;/nonus.debian.org" name="Bug Tracking System">.
+The non-US server <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>
+was discontinued with the release of sarge. The pseudo-package
+<package>nonus.debian.org</package>
+stil exists for now.
<sect1 id="servers-www">The www-master server
<p>
<p>
Usually the only reason to use a different host is when you need to publish
materials subject to the U.S. export restrictions, in which case you can use
-one of the other servers located outside the United States, such as the
-aforementioned <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>.
+one of the other servers located outside the United States.
<p>
Send mail to &email-debian-devel; if you have any questions.
‘3.0r1’, ‘2.2r4’ becomes ‘2.2r5’, and
so forth).
Please refer to
-<qref="upload-stable">uploads to the <em>stable</em> distribution</qref>
+<qref id="upload-stable">uploads to the <em>stable</em> distribution</qref>
for details.
<p>
Note that development under <em>unstable</em> continues during the
<p>
The Incoming system is responsible for collecting updated packages and
installing them in the Debian archive. It consists of a set of
-directories and scripts that are installed both on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>
-and <tt>&non-us-host;</tt>.
+directories and scripts that are installed on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>.
<p>
Packages are uploaded by all the maintainers into a directory called
<file>UploadQueue</file>.
<sect1 id="madison">The <prgn>madison</prgn> utility
<p>
<prgn>madison</prgn> is a command-line utility that is available
-on both <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt> and <tt>&non-us-host;</tt>, and on
+on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>, and on
the mirror on <tt>&ftp-master-mirror;</tt>. It
uses a single argument corresponding to a package name. In result
it displays which version of the package is available for each
started by Debian, and help projects whose goals are the promotion of Debian
or its derivatives.
<p>
+All Debian developers automatically have an account on Alioth.
+They can activate it by using the recover password facility.
+External developers can request guest accounts on Alioth.
+ <p>
For more information please visit <url id="&url-alioth;">.
+ <sect id="developer-misc">Goodies for Developers
+ <p>
+ <sect1 id="lwn">LWN Subscriptions
+ <p>
+Since October of 2002, HP has sponsored a subscription to LWN for all
+interested Debian developers.
+
+Details on how to get access to this benefit are in
+<url id="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2002/10/msg00018.html">.
+
+
<chapt id="pkgs">Managing Packages
<p>
archive maintenance software will parse the changes file and see that not
all files have been uploaded.
<p>
-<!-- FIXME: is this still topical? Explain the rationale? -->
-<em>Note:</em> Do not upload to <tt>ftp-master</tt> cryptographic
-packages which belong to <em>contrib</em> or <em>non-free</em>. Uploads of
-such software should go to <tt>non-us</tt> (see <ref
-id="upload-non-us">). Furthermore packages containing code that is
-patent-restricted by the United States government cannot be uploaded to
-<tt>ftp-master</tt>; depending on the case they may still be uploaded to
-<file>non-US/non-free</file> (it's in non-free because of distribution issues
-and not because of the license of the software). If you can't upload it to
-<tt>ftp-master</tt>, then neither can you upload it to backup
-queues that finally also end up on <tt>ftp-master</tt>. If you are not sure
-whether U.S. patent controls or cryptographic controls apply to your
-package, post a message to &email-debian-devel; and ask.
- <p>
You may also find the Debian packages <ref id="dupload"> or
<ref id="dput"> useful
when uploading packages. These handy programs help automate the
<sect1 id="upload-non-us">Uploading to <tt>non-US</tt>
<p>
-<em>Note:</em> non-us is currently not processed any more.
- <p>
-As discussed above, export controlled software should not be uploaded
-to <tt>ftp-master</tt>. Instead, upload the package with anonymous FTP
-to <ftpsite>non-us.debian.org</ftpsite>, placing the files in
-&upload-queue; (again, both <ref id="dupload"> and <ref
-id="dput"> can do this for you if invoked properly).
- <p>
-Note that U.S. residents or citizens are subject to restrictions on
-export of cryptographic software. As of this writing, U.S. citizens
-are allowed to export some cryptographic software, subject to
-notification rules by the U.S. Department of Commerce. However, this
-restriction has been waived for software which is already available
-outside the U.S. Therefore, any cryptographic software which belongs
-in the <em>main</em> section of the Debian archive and does not depend
-on any package outside of <em>main</em> (e.g., does not depend on
-anything in <em>non-US/main</em>) can be uploaded to <tt>ftp-master</tt>
-or its queues, described above.
- <p>
-Debian policy does not prevent upload to non-US by U.S. residents or
-citizens, but care should be taken in doing so. It is recommended that
-developers take all necessary steps to ensure that they are not
-breaking current US law by doing an upload to non-US, <em>including
-consulting a lawyer</em>.
- <p>
-For packages in <em>non-US/main</em>, <em>non-US/contrib</em>,
-developers should at least follow the <url id="&url-u.s.-export;"
-name="procedure outlined by the US Government">. Maintainers of
-<em>non-US/non-free</em> packages should further consult the <url
-id="&url-notification-of-export;" name="rules on notification of
-export"> of non-free software.
- <p>
-This section is for information only and does not constitute legal
-advice. Again, it is strongly recommended that U.S. citizens and
-residents consult a lawyer before doing uploads to non-US.
+<em>Note:</em> non-us was discontinued with release of sarge.
<sect1 id="delayed-incoming">Delayed uploads
<sect1>Other upload queues
<p>
-The scp queues on ftp-master, non-us, and security are mostly unusable
+The scp queues on ftp-master, and security are mostly unusable
due to the login restrictions on those hosts.
<p>
The anonymous queues on ftp.uni-erlangen.de and ftp.uk.debian.org are
priority to the new one. Be sure to explain your reasoning.
<p>
For more information about <em>override files</em>, see <manref
-name="dpkg-scanpackages" section="8"> and
+name="dpkg-scanpackages" section="1"> and
<url id="&url-bts-devel;#maintincorrect">.
<p>
Note that the <tt>Section</tt> field describes both the section as
general interest (for instance, a flavor of Debian built with <prgn>gcc</prgn>
bounds checking). It will also enable Debian to recompile entire
distributions quickly.
- </sect2>
+ <p>
+The buildds admins of each arch can be contacted by the mail address
+$arch@buildd.debian.org.
+
+ <sect1 id="packages-arch-specific">When your package is <em>not</em> portable
+ <p>
+Some packages still have issues with building and/or working on some
+of the architectures supported by Debian, and cannot be ported at all,
+or not with a reasonable amount of time. An example is a package that
+is SVGA-specific (only i386), or uses other hardware-specific features
+not supported on all architectures.
+ <p>
+In order to prevent broken packages from being uploaded to the archive, and
+wasting buildd time, you need to do a few things:
+ <p>
+ <list>
+ <item>
+ <p>
+First, make sure your package <em>does</em> fail to build on
+architectures that it cannot support.
+There are a few ways to achieve this.
+The preferred way is to have a small testsuite during build time
+that will test the functionality, and fail if it doesn't work.
+This is a good idea anyway,
+as this will prevent (some) broken uploads on all architectures,
+and also will allow the package to build
+as soon as the required functionality is available.
+ <p>
+Additionally, if you believe the list of supported architectures is
+pretty constant, you should change 'any' to a list of supported
+architectures in debian/control. This way, the build will fail also,
+and indicate this to a human reader without actually trying.
+ <item>
+ <p>
+In order to prevent autobuilders from needlessly trying to build your
+package, it must be included in <file>packages-arch-specific</file>, a
+list used by the <prgn>wanna-build</prgn> script.
+The current version is available as
+<url id="http://cvs.debian.org/srcdep/Packages-arch-specific?rev=HEAD&cvsroot=dak&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup">;
+please see the top of the file for whom to contact for changes.
+ </list>
+ <p>
+Please note that it is insufficient to only add your package to
+Packages-arch-specific
+without making it fail to build on unsupported architectures:
+A porter or any other person trying to build your package might
+accidently upload it without noticing it doesn't work.
+If in the past some binary packages were uploaded on unsupported architectures,
+request there removal by filing a bug against
+<package>ftp.debian.org</package>
<sect id="nmu">Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)
Most Debian package maintainers are not native English speakers. So,
writing properly phrased templates may not be easy for them.
<p>
-Please use (and abuse) debian-l10n-english@lists.debian.org mailing
+Please use (and abuse) &email-debian-l10n-english; mailing
list. Have your templates proofread.
<p>
Badly written templates give a poor image of your package, of your
<sect2>Be kind to translators
<p>
Debconf templates may be translated. Debconf, along with its sister
-package po-debconf offers a simple framework for getting
+package <prgn>po-debconf</prgn> offers a simple framework for getting
templates translated by translation teams or even individuals.
<p>
-Please use gettext-based templates. Install po-debconf on your
+Please use gettext-based templates. Install <package>po-debconf</package> on your
development system and read its documentation ("man po-debconf" is a
good start).
<p>
translator's name and e-mail addresses are mentioned in the po files
headers.
<p>
+The use of the <prgn>podebconf-report-po</prgn> from the
+po-debconf package is highly recommended to warn translators which
+have incomplete translations and request them for updates.
+ <p>
If in doubt, you may also contact the translation team for a given
language (debian-l10n-xxxxx@lists.debian.org), or the
-debian-i18n@lists.debian.org mailing list.
+&email-debian-i18n; mailing list.
+ <p>
+Calls for translations posted to
+&email-debian-i18n; with the <file>debian/po/templates.pot</file> file
+attached or referenced in a URL are encouraged. Be sure to mentions in
+these calls for new translations which languages you have existing
+translations for, in order to avoid duplicate work.
+ <sect2>Unfuzzy complete translations when correcting typos and spelling
+ <p>
+When the text of a debconf template is corrected and you are
+<strong>sure</strong> that the change does <strong>not</strong> affect
+translations, please be kind to translators and unfuzzy their
+translations.
+ <p>
+If you don't do so, the whole template will not be translated as long
+as a translator will send you an update.
+ <p>
+To <strong>unfuzzy</strong> translations, you can proceed the following way:
+ <enumlist>
+ <item>
+Put all incomplete PO files out of the way. You can check the
+completeness by using (needs the <package>gettext</package> package installed):
+<example>for i in debian/po/*po; do echo -n $i: ; msgfmt -o /dev/null
+--statistics $i; done</example>
+ <item>
+move all files which report either fuzzy strings to a temporary
+place. Files which report no fuzzy strings (only translated and
+untranslated) will be kept in place.
+ <item>
+now <strong>and now only</strong>, modify the template for the typos
+and check again that translation are not impacted (typos, spelling
+errors, sometimes typographical corrections are usually OK)
+ <item>
+run <prgn>debconf-updatepo</prgn>. This will fuzzy all strings
+you modified in translations. You can see this by running the above
+again
+ <item>
+use the following command:
+<example>for i in debian/po/*po; do msgattrib --output-file=$i --clear-fuzzy $i; done</example>
+ <item>
+move back to debian/po the files which showed fuzzy strings in the first step
+ <item>
+run <prgn>debconf-updatepo</prgn> again
+ </enumlist>
<sect2>Do not make assumptions about interfaces
<p>
Templates text should not make reference to widgets belonging to some
meaning for users of graphical interfaces which use checkboxes for
boolean questions.
<p>
+String templates should also avoid mentioning the default values in
+their description. First, because this is redundant with the values
+seen by the users. Also, because these default values may be different
+from the maintainer choices (for instance, when the debconf database
+was preseeded).
+ <p>
More generally speaking, try to avoid referring to user actions.
Just give facts.
~ianmdlvl / developers-reference.git / blobdiff